THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:	EMSC-VESID Committee
FROM:	Jean C. Stevens
SUBJECT:	Component Retesting
DATE:	February 27, 2007
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 1 & 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Discussion

 

Should the Component Retest Program be discontinued?  If yes, will other safety net options that exist for students who are at risk of not meeting the higher graduation standards be sufficient?

 

Reason for Consideration

 

          Review of policy.

 

Proposed Handling

 

This question will come before the Regents EMSC-VESID Committee at its March 2007 meeting.

 

Procedural History

 

Not applicable.

 

Background Information

 

          Component retesting is the process by which a student who has failed the Regents examination in Comprehensive English and/or Mathematics A two or more times is retested only on the areas of the learning standards in which the student has failed to demonstrate proficiency. For each eligible student, the school must conduct item analyses on answer papers written by the student for two administrations of that Regents examination to determine in which component(s) the student is deficient in comparison to the performance of students who are just passing with a scale score in the 65-67 range. The underlying assumption of this program is that certain areas of the learning standards tested on the Regents examinations can be identified as weaknesses for a student, and instructional intervention can be targeted to a student’s particular needs. The Component Retest Program was developed as part of a program of intervention strategies for students who are at risk of not meeting the State learning standards.

 

Reasons for Discontinuing Component Retest Program:

 

          There are several reasons why Department staff recommend discontinuing the Component Retest Program:

 

1.     The Regents Appeals Process is now in effect and provides students with an effective safety net.   This strategy is in addition to the two safety net options available for students with disabilities to earn a local diploma:  (1) the low-pass option on Regents examinations; and (2) taking and passing Regents Competency Tests that correspond to required Regents examinations.

 

2.     Component retesting was intended to ease the transition to the revised diploma and graduation requirements, but this program has not been effective in meeting this purpose.

a.     The average number of students taking component retests each year is low compared to the Regents testing program (average of only 5,299 students annually vs. approximately 260,000 students taking Math A and Comprehensive English each January and June). Of the 5,299 students tested in 2005-2006, 4,809 were general education students and 490 were students with disabilities.  Out of the total 5,299 students tested, 633 were LEP/ELL general education or special education students.

b.     The cost of producing the component retests – both in money and time – is disproportionately high for the number of students served by the program. The cost for this program is approximately $862,000 per year. The example below compares the cost between preparing the Regents Mathematics A examination versus the component retest:

 

Math A Regents Exam	Component Retest
$2.35 per student	$261.00 per student

 

c.     Results for students taking component retests are varied:

Total Public ELA and Mathematics A Component Retests: 2005-2006

	Number of Students Tested	Count of Students Scoring			Percentage of Tested Students Scoring
		0-54	55-64	65/abv	0-54	55-64	65/abv
All Students	5,299	952	537	3,810	18%	10%	72%
Female Students	2,675	504	290	1,881	19%	11%	70%
Male Students	2,624	448	247	1,929	17%	9%	74%
LEP Students	633	188	106	339	30%	17%	54%
Non LEP Students	4,666	764	431	3,471	16%	9%	74%
American Indian/Alaskan Native Students	20	3	3	14	15%	15%	70%
Asian/Pacific Islander Students	257	58	30	169	23%	12%	66%
Black Students	1,031	389	183	459	38%	18%	45%
Hispanic Students	1,197	376	199	622	31%	17%	52%
White Students	2,794	126	122	2,546	5%	4%	91%
General Education Students	4,809	808	467	3,534	17%	10%	73%
Students With Disabilities	490	144	70	276	29%	14%	56%

 

Total Public Score Results: 2004-2006

 

2005-2006 Demographic Analysis of Students Tested

 

 

3.     Schools must maintain regular classroom instruction for students in all grades during the week that component retests are administered.  This also means that, to participate in the component retests, students must be absent from regular classroom instruction in courses they must successfully complete to graduate.

 

4.     Schools find it difficult to conduct the required item analyses on answer papers to determine which component retest(s) each eligible student must take.  The item analyses are time consuming; it is likely that schools make errors in these analyses and students may end up taking the wrong component(s); and they take away time teachers have for regular services.

 

          In October 2005, the Board of Regents approved amendments to Section 100.5 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education that phased in the 65 graduation standard. At that time, the Board of Regents also approved an appeals process through which students who are at risk of not meeting the standard can earn a diploma.

 

          Under the new Regents appeals process, students entering Grade 9 in 2005 can now appeal to graduate with a lower score on a required Regents examination. Students may appeal their scores on a maximum of two of the five required Regents examinations. Students who are granted an appeal on one examination, and who have attained a passing score of 65 or above on each of the four remaining required Regents examinations, will be determined to have met all graduation requirements and thereby earn a Regents diploma.  Students who are granted an appeal on two examinations, and have attained a passing score of 65 or above on each of the three remaining required Regents examinations, will be determined to have met all graduation requirements and thereby earn a local diploma.  This latter option will not be available for students entering Grade 9 in 2008 since the local diploma will only be an option available for students with disabilities.  This new appeals process provides students with an effective safety net.  The appeals process is in addition to the two safety net options for students with disabilities.

 

Recommendation

 

          Staff recommend that, with the appeals process on Regents examinations in place for students along with the safety nets available for students with disabilities, the Board of Regents review the reasons for discontinuing the Component Retest Program and indicate whether it concurs with the phasing out of the under-utilized program.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

Upon the Board of Regents agreement with the staff recommendation, the Component Retest Program would be phased out immediately.